A Rocker and a Hard Place Read Online Free Page B

over and helped her curl her hair. And she was wearing her cousin’s dress, a light blue number that matched the summer sky. She looked perfect.
    “Hi, Emma.” My voice cracked.
    Her eyes went wide as she took in my combed hair and nervous smile. She saw the flowers next and asked, “What’s going on, Ty?”
    “We’re going to a dance,” I said, trying to act like it was no big deal. If only my hands would stop shaking.
    “Okay.” She took the flowers from me and backed away slowly. “I’ll just put these in some water.”
    James was watching from the living room door and he gave me a sympathetic smile. At least I had someone in my corner.
    On the way to the dance, I stopped Emma under a streetlight. “I didn’t say anything earlier, but you look really beautiful tonight.”
    “Stop being weird,” Emma said with a shaky laugh.
    “I can’t.” I shrugged helplessly. “I like you, Emma.”
    “No.” She started to back away.
    “Wait. Please don’t go.” I took her hand.
    “Tyler, stop talking. Let’s just go to the dance.” She glanced around, looking for an escape route. She looked at me with pleading eyes. “Don’t do this.”
    “I don’t have a choice.” I had come this far, and I wasn’t going to back down now. “Be my girlfriend, Em. I love you and I’m pretty sure you love me, too.”
    It was the first time I had ever said those words to anyone and it felt wonderful. I repeated them. “I love you, Emma.”
    Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes as she furiously shook her head. “We’re friends, Tyler. Just friends.”
    “You know that’s a lie.” I laughed.
    There had been so many moments during our friendship- long looks, avoided eye contact, hands brushing as we walked next to each other, secret smiles. We had both known this was coming.
    “Tyler.” She looked up at me, her face falling just a bit. “I can’t lose you as my friend.”
    “That will never happen, Emma. I’ll be your friend, for as long as we live.”
    Very slowly, she smiled. “Then here’s to a long, long life.”
    Right there, on the street where we grew up, our lips met for the first time. Aside from the hasty peck on the cheek so many months ago, this was my first kiss. Later, I would find out it was hers, too. There would be many more after that, but this one would always be my favorite.
    Now that I was back in town, I had to make things right with Emma. Maybe she would fight me at first, but just like when we were two kids in love, I would find a way to win her over. One thing I knew for ce rtain, Emma Wellington had a weak spot for me and I planned to exploit it.
    “You again.” The same girl was working the register.
    “Me.”
    I noticed that she was wearing a nice dress today, and her hair was styled. Arrogantly, I wondered if she had been hoping to run into me again today. I shook the thought from my head.
    “Is Emma around?”
    She yelled for her boss and turned back to her cell phone. Aware that she was probably sneaking pictures of me to send to her friends, I moved further away.
    Emma approached me with arms crossed over her chest. She certainly had not been hoping to run into me today.
    “Really?”
    “Hello to you, too.” I smiled despite the chilly reception. Now that I was determined to make things right with her, her cold demeanor wasn’t going to deter me. “I need to pick up some supplies.”
    “You need my help for that?”
    I shrugged. “You are the proprietor, are you not? I’m the customer… You see where this is headed?”
    “Fine.” She threw up her hands. “What do you need?”
    “Hammer. Nails. The works.” I showed her my damaged hands. “Gloves would be good, too.”
    “You don’t have any of that in your old garage?” She looked at me skeptically.
    Believe it or not, I used to be quite handy. I had liked to build things with my hands and my dad had kept his car parked in the driveway just so I could store my tools and materials in the garage. But